Bandai Namco Games Inc. (BNGI) (株式会社バンダイナムコゲームス,Kabushiki Gaisha Bandai Namuko Gēmusu?) is an arcade, mobile and home video game publisher, based in Japan. The company also publishes video, music and other entertainment products related to its video game IPs. It is the product of a merger between the video game development divisions of Bandai and Namco. Originally referred to in the West as Namco Bandai Games, the company was internationally renamed as Bandai Namco Games in January 2014.[3] On December 17, 2014, Bandai Namco Holdings announced that it will change its gaming division name from Bandai Namco Games to Bandai Namco Entertainment on April 1, 2015.

Bandai Namco Games is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings (BNHD) and specializes in management and sales of video games and other related entertainment products, while its Bandai Namco Studios subsidiaries specialize in the development of these products. It is the core company of Bandai Namco Group's Content Strategic Business Unit (Content SBU).[4]

In addition to its core publisher operations in Japan, Bandai Namco Games publishes content worldwide through different entities. Bandai Namco Games America handles publishing across North America; Bandai Namco Games Europe handles publishing across Europe; Bandai Namco Games Asia handles publishing across Asia (except Japan); Bandai Namco Games Australia and Bandai Namco Games New Zealand handle publishing in Oceania. The company has its headquarters in Shinagawa, Tokyo.[1]

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In early 2005, Namco Ltd. and Bandai Co. Ltd. announced plans to combine their operations. The merger took effect on September 29 of that same year and both companies came under the umbrella of the newly created Bandai Namco Holdings.[5] On March 31, 2006, the video games division of Bandai was merged with Namco and renamed Namco Bandai Games (Bandai Namco Games in Japan).[6] On January 2, 2006, Namco Hometek and Bandai Games were merged and renamed, in the United States, to form Namco Bandai Games America.[7][8]

On April 1, 2008, Banpresto's video game operations were absorbed by Namco Bandai Games.[9] On April 1, 2009, Bandai Networks, Namco Bandai's mobile phone business, was dissolved and absorbed into Namco Bandai Games.[10]

In early 2011, Namco Networks was absorbed to Namco Bandai Games America, effectively consolidating Namco Bandai's American console, handheld and mobile video game development operations.[12]

On April 2, 2012, Namco Bandai Games spun off its development operations into a new company called Namco Bandai Studios. The new company was spurred by Namco Bandai's interest in faster development times and tighter cohesion between disparate development teams. It will comprise approximately by 1,000 employees, who are already part of Namco Bandai.[13]

In March 2013, Namco Bandai Games established two new game studios. The first, Namco Bandai Studios Singapore, will be Namco Bandai's "leading development center" in Asia and develop game content for the Asia Pacific. The second studio, Namco Bandai Studios Vancouver, will work on online social games and game content development for North America and Europe, and will be established within The Center for Digital Media (CDM).[14] In July 2013, Namco Bandai Partners (NBP), which used to oversee the PAL distribution network since September 2012, merged with Namco Bandai Games Europe (NBGE) in order to push distribution and publishing into one entity, Namco Bandai Games Europe (NBGE).[15]

On January 25, 2014, Namco Bandai Games and Namco Bandai Studios announced that the companies would be known as Bandai Namco Games and Bandai Namco Studios worldwide, respectively. The change is intended to unify the brand internationally (since the company was already known as Bandai Namco in Japan) in order to increase the "value" and "appeal" of the name.[3] In December 2014, the company announced in a press release that the full company name will be changed to Bandai Namco Entertainment on April 1, 2015.[16]

Bandai Namco Games (BNGI), plays the role of expanding the content business, while Bandai Namco Studios (BNSI) plays the role of creating content. Both companies cooperate to provide products and services around the world.

Bandai Namco Games (BNGI) is a core company of the Content Strategic Business Unit (Content SBU) of Bandai Namco, and is responsible for all aspects of Bandai Namco Group’s content business, from creation to sales. However, as of April 2012, Bandai Namco Games spun off its video games and related entertainment development to Bandai Namco Studios. As such, Bandai Namco Games is currently responsible for managing, publishing and marketing of already developed content, not only from Bandai Namco Studios but from third-party developers as well.[13]

In addition to its core publisher operations in Japan, Bandai Namco Games publishes content worldwide through different entities. Bandai Namco Games America manages operations and handles publishing across North America and oversees operations of Bandai Namco Games Brazil, which operates and handles publishing in Brazil. Bandai Namco Games Europe manages and oversees operations and handles publishing across Europe, and has branches in France, Greece, the Nordic countries, Portugal, Spain, Germany, United Kingdom, and Romania. Bandai Namco Games Asia manages and oversees operations and handles publishing across Asia (except Japan), and has branches in Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Additionally, it operates and handles publishing in Oceania under Bandai Namco Games Australia and Bandai Namco Games New Zealand.[17]

Bandai Namco Studios (BNSI) functions as the core video game development studio of Bandai Namco Games, as of in April 2012. In addition to its video game development operations, Bandai Namco Studios also work on other entertainment content such as video and music, related to its video game IPs.

In addition to its core development studio in Tokyo, Japan, Bandai Namco Studios has development operations in Singapore, which develops game content for the Asia Pacific, and Vancouver, Canada (established within The Center for Digital Media), which develops online social games for North America and Europe.[14]

At the end of 2008, just prior to the release of Afro Samurai, Namco Bandai Games announced the Surge publishing label.[19] The new label was an attempt at creating a separate identity for the company, aimed at a Western audience desiring more mature themes in game content.[20] Following Afro, early press materials indicated that Dead to Rights: Retribution and Splatterhouse would also be released under the Surge label, but neither game ultimately did; both were released with a retro Namco label instead to reflect the series' legacy. As of 2010, Afro is still the only game to have been released as a Surge title. However, more games will be on the way when Surge announced that they will publish 2 Days to Vegas by Steel Monkeys.[citation needed]